Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term "tundra" comes from Kildin Sami t??ndra, the genitive of tundar, "treeless plain".

Arctic tundra

Arctic tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt. The word "tundra" usually refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost, which contains permanently frozen water. (It may also refer to the treeless plain in general, so that northern Lapland would be included.) Permafrost tundra includes vast areas of northern Russia and Canada. The arctic tundra is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders, such as the Nganasan and Nenets in the permafrost area (and the Sami in Lapland).

Related Topics:
Northern Hemisphere - Taiga - Permafrost - Lapland - Russia - Canada - Nganasan - Nenets - Sami

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The biodiversity of tundra is low. There are few species with large populations. Notable animals in the arctic tundra include caribou (reindeer), musk ox, lemmings, and polar bears (only the extreme north).

Related Topics:
Biodiversity - Caribou - Reindeer - Musk ox - Lemmings - Polar bears

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Due to the harsh climate of the arctic tundra, regions of this kind have seen little exploitation even though they are sometimes rich in natural resources such as oil and uranium. In recent time this has begun to change, and in Alaska, Russia and some other parts of the world the tundra is being ever more subjected to human interference.

Related Topics:
Oil - Uranium - Alaska

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Global warming is a severe threat to the arctic tundra because of the permafrost. Essentially, permafrost is frozen bog. In the summer, only its surface layer melts. Should it melt completely, the entire ecosystem would be devastated. The arctic species could not adjust for such a rapid change. Another threat is that one third of the world's soil-bound carbon is in the taiga and tundra areas. When the permafrost melts, it releases carbon more than it can bind. The effect has been observed in Alaska. In the 1970s, the tundra was a carbon sink, but today, it's a carbon source. This aggravates the problem of global warming even further.

Related Topics:
Global warming - Carbon - Taiga - 1970s

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WWF arctic tundra-ecoregions

The WWF divides arctic tundra into a number of ecoregions, depending on the continent and location of the tundra:

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Nearctic ecoregions

• Alaska-St. Elias Range tundra (Canada,United States)
• Aleutian Islands tundra (United States)
• Arctic coastal tundra (Canada, United States)
• Arctic foothills tundra (Canada, United States)
• Baffin coastal tundra (Canada)
• Beringia lowland tundra (United States)
• Beringia upland tundra (United States)
• Brooks-British Range tundra (Canada, United States)
• Davis Highlands tundra (Canada)
• High Arctic tundra (Canada)
• Interior Yukon-Alaska alpine tundra (Canada, United States)
• Kalaallit Nunaat high arctic tundra (Greenland)
• Kalaallit Nunaat low arctic tundra (Greenland)
• Low Arctic tundra (Canada)
• Middle Arctic tundra (Canada)
• Ogilvie-MacKenzie alpine tundra (Canada, United States)
• Pacific Coastal Mountain icefields and tundra (Canada, United States)
• Torngat Mountain tundra (Canada)

Palearctic ecoregions

• Arctic desert (Russia)
• Bering tundra (Russia)
• Cherskii-Kolyma mountain tundra (Russia)
• Chukchi Peninsula tundra (Russia)
• Kamchatka Mountain tundra and forest tundra (Russia)
• Kola Peninsula tundra (Norway, Russia)
• Northeast Siberian coastal tundra (Russia)
• Northwest Russian-Novaya Zemlya tundra (Russia)
• Novosibirsk Islands arctic desert (Russia)
• Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands (Finland, Norway, Sweden)
• Taimyr-Central Siberian tundra (Russia)
• Trans-Baikal Bald Mountain tundra (Russia)
• Wrangel Island arctic desert (Russia)
• Yamalagydanskaja tundra (Russia)